There have been numerous blogs and research regarding employment engagement ideas — all with strong merit. In my latest review, there were no less than 19 million hits on Google. To start our discussion today, it is important to distinguish between employee engagement ideas and employee satisfaction.
“HR professionals would generally agree that satisfaction refers to how employees feel — their “happiness”— about their job and conditions, such as compensation, benefits, work environment, and career development opportunities. Engagement, on the other hand, refers to employees’ commitment and connection to work as measured by the amount of discretionary effort they are willing to expend on behalf of their employer,”. ADP Research Institute
I would like to share a personal view based on our company’s approach and how our engagement ideas raise the bar within our team. The basics started with developing a company doctrine titled, “The Way We Think.” This is our living road-map! One that is visible to everyone, both within our four walls and on all of our devices. This road map covers six company values. Among the six company values, we have goals within each section.
Across those six company values there are three key principles covered that target engagement ideas:
We believe that we need to surround ourselves with talented team members. This tenet is paramount when considering successful engagement ideas. It is a thrill and a luxury to work alongside smart, creative, and inspired colleagues. The returns to the company, by way of idea exchange, ability to reach milestones and product/project implementation are phenomenal. We find ourselves continually challenging one another. The result in this approach is that the bar keeps on getting higher and higher. Growth occurs from all directions: horizontally as well as vertically, within our organization.
Throughout our working day, we share these successes in the most engaging ways possible.
The endpoint for our team is that they feel valued, they know that their thoughts and efforts make an immediate and long term difference. We also give them feedback immediately and encourage them to share their thoughts and progress with others. Our appreciation for them goes directly to interaction that we typically share: “Thank you and yes, we embrace your thinking and preparation. We’re implementing your well thought out suggestion/direction.”
Talk is cheap, you’ve heard and read it all before. There is indeed a theory for everything, but nothing replaces getting your hands deep into the dirt. We have the privilege of working with a relatively young and energized team, including college interns. Our environment is fertile for active, productive and non-linear thinking. For us, as each new team member is oriented (our on boarding happens well before each team member starts) we make sure that each person has an active understanding of what we are trying to accomplish, what timeline we are on, and how important their individual contributions will be to our team’s success. Nothing replaces hands on involvement; there is no substitute for actual experience. When we talk about effective employee engagement ideas learning and accomplishing by doing is beneficial to your company, as well as your employees.
Nothing is static. To this extent, we need to be continually educating ourselves and one another. We know that nurturing a culture of constant improvement requires dedication to on-going education. As relevant topics (or even random bits) and information come across our screens or into our mental real estate, we are committed to sharing these “gems” across our company. Whether this takes the form of: books, articles, podcasts, webinars, on site or remote training we are always in the sharing mode.
Our employees are our most important assets. To the extent that they are receiving and sharing new knowledge, we truly become the sum of our parts. There is nothing more exciting than to start or end a day with employee engagement ideas that sound something like this “Hey, I just saw something that I thought would be helpful to what we were discussing earlier. I just shared it with you.”
Alternatively, “Thank you for letting me know about that upcoming webinar, I know that it will help us address the situation that we were discussing yesterday afternoon.”
Once you and your team adopts meaningful employee engagement ideas by learning to communicate the successes and challenges through: surrounding and keeping a great team, having them learn by experience and keeping them engaged through continual education — the bar will be in the stratosphere!
